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Baphomet
Baphomet (real name Nergal) the Mesopotamian God of the sun, dusk, pestilence, war, destruction, death and the underworld, and is one of the gods of the Recurrence, symbolized by an icon of a goat skull and crossed swords. He is known to have appeared in the 2010s Recurrence. History Baphomet's name prior to becoming a god was Cameron. He attended university with the Morrigan (then called Marian), where they participated in role-playing games together, soon becoming lovers. However, things started to go downhill when his parents died. He became increasingly self-destructive, and despite Marian's support, slept with another girl. She was furious, and stormed off, becoming the Morrigan soon after. Cameron went to one of her performances and told her that he wasn't surprised by her success, as she had always been special. This softened her feelings towards him, and Ananke later turned him into a god at the Morrigan's request. He didn't realize that this would result in him dying in two years, and they argued about it for a week. To his disappointment, he transformed into the god Nergal. However, he led everyone else to believe he was actually Baphomet, which he evidently considered less embarrassing. Synopsis The Faust Act He made his first public appearance at a gig by the Morrigan in an underground station on 10 January 2014. He summoned fire across the station's ceiling and displayed the Morrigan's head, declaring himself King of the Underground and making the severed head talk. The Morrigan arrived to interrupt him, and the two began to battle, but Laura interrupted them, and they instead performed together. When the police arrived to break up the gig, Baphomet set one of the policemen on fire, apparently burning him to death. He was reanimated by the Morrigan. Later, the Morrigan claimed that Baphomet could not have killed Judge Holmes as the two of them were making love at the time of the murder. However, Baphomet said that this was a lie. Fandemonium Baphomet held a 'Valentine's Day Mascara' after Lucifer's death. This involved the animated dead dancing with the living. After Fantheon, Baphomet tricked Laura into going to a karaoke party, saying that she needed company and he and the Morrigan understood what she was going through. Baphomet learned from Ananke that the Prometheus Gambit would work for a death god such as himself, allowing him to live longer if he killed one of his fellow gods. At first, he was not sure he was able to do it, but when he witnessed Cassandra's incarnation as Urdr, he decided to target her. When he doubted his ability to kill, he used a miracle to summon a red-tinted version of himself to talk him into committing the murder. He attacked Urdr at Ragnarock 2014, but was prevented from killing her by the Morrigan, and was forced to flee when Ananke threatened punishment. Instead, he decided to target Inanna, who he attacked a few hours later. However, he did not go through with it, realizing they had both been manipulated by Ananke. They followed her to Laura's house and witnessed her transformation into Persephone, saving her from being killed by Ananke. However, Ananke killed Inanna instead, and Baphomet escaped with Persephone into the Underground. Commercial Suicide Ananke framed Baphomet for Inanna's death, and led the public to believe that Laura was also dead. She also later framed him for Tara's murder. He therefore went into hiding from the rest of the Pantheon, resulting in the Morrigan getting captured in his stead. Meanwhile, he attempted to cheer up Persephone, who had become very depressed after Inanna's death. They slept together and developed a plan to free the Morrigan and take down Ananke. He managed to send the Morrigan a message in prison, explaining Ananke's treachery. They executed their plan in September. Rising Action While Persephone created a diversion, Baphomet broke into Valhalla and found the Morrigan and Minerva, who had learned about Ananke's duplicity. Minerva wanted to bring her parents along with them, slowing them down. They were confronted by Baal, who wanted revenge on Baphomet for Inanna's death, and the Valkyries, who had returned from their fight with Persephone. Persephone then broke into Valhalla herself and helped them all escape, taking them to the Underground. Baphomet brought Dionysus along and recruited him to their side. They were then attacked by Baal, Sakhmet and Amaterasu, who took Minerva away. Once the fight was over, they discovered via footage on Minerva's owl that Ananke planned to kill Minerva. They returned to Valhalla to continue the fight and attempt to rescue Minerva. As Baphomet fought Baal, he revealed that Inanna expressed his love for Baal before he died, causing him to hesitate briefly. Baphomet later managed to break into the building and found Ananke dragging Minerva away to be slaughtered. He charged at her, but she sent him flying out of the window. Eventually, both sides decided to check on Minerva when they were persuaded to stop fighting by Urdr. They found her just before Ananke was about to sacrifice her, and engaged her in battle, capturing her in Persephone's vines. Despite Urdr's entreaties, Persephone ended up killing Ananke, leaving them free to do whatever they wanted. Imperial Phase (I) Over Christmas, Baphomet conjured up golem's of Persephone's dead family to help her process her grief. They also slept with each other again. At some point, Baphomet confessed to Morrigan about the affair and she started abusing him. Once it became clear the Great Darkness was a real threat, and not just something Ananke made up, the Pantheon held a meeting to decide what to do about it, which Baphomet attended. There were three options to choose from: fight the Great Darkness, do further research, or do nothing and let anarchy reign. As Baphomet was about to cast his vote, the Morrigan interrupted and chose anarchy for him, which ended up being the winning choice. Baphomet didn't see the other Pantheon members much over the next few months, as the Morrigan made him stay in the Underground with her. He showed up to Amaterasu's party at Dionysus' invitation, but fled when he realised Persephone was there. Dionysus and Persephone confronted him, and were shocked when they saw the black eye the Morrigan had given him. Baphomet blamed himself for making her angry. Imperial Phase (II) Sakhmet went on a killing spree and Urdr, Persephone and Dionysus went to the Underground to ask Morrigan and Baphomet for help. Morrigan agreed, but prevented them from seeing Baphomet. Dionysus, concerned about his welfare, demanded to see him and waited in the Underground until he eventually appeared. Baphomet confided in him that Morrigan had brought the two year death sentence on him without his knowledge or consent. Nevertheless, he defended their relationship and said he wouldn't leave her. Later, when Minerva texted asking for help with Sakhmet, Morrigan refused when she realized it would involve seeing Persephone. Baphomet asked what was going on and she told him it was nothing important. Status as a god Baphomet's status as a god has been questioned by other characters. Cassandra called him a "fake god", and said that there has never been a Baphomet in a previous cycle. He was hurt when he was shot by one of the policemen, even though according to Woden, gods can't be hurt. Furthermore, the mythological Baphomet was not actually a god, but an idol. It was later revealed that Baphomet has been lying about his identity and is, in fact, the god Nergal, to his embarrassment. Appearance Baphomet is a white man with black hair and orange eyes. He is very muscular and has enlarged, vampire-like canines. He typically wears jeans, a belt with a skull buckles, large sunglasses, and a chain with a goat skull symbol on it. He prefers being shirtless all the time, but occasionally he would don an unbuttoned leather jacket, revealing his bare chest and well-defined abdominal muscles. He puts a lot of effort into maintaining his pale skin and impressive abs, which are always on display. Personality Baphomet is sarcastic and showy, and enjoys puns. He is also self-destructive and fixated on his impending death. Baphomet's obsession with death is his "driving force", but he's "very much trying to hide it with this performative masculinity."The Wicked + The Divine: Dress to Impress He frequently attempts to disguise his insecurities with his flamboyant personality. He is impulsive and often displays bad judgement. He is also secretly a huge geek. Relationships The Morrigan While Baphomet and the Morrigan know each other better than anyone else, the two have a tumultuous relationship. They compete with each other for control of the Underground and Baphomet claims he "wants to kill Morrigan half the time." Badb is particularly violent against Baphomet. Nevertheless, they seem to love each other. They are willing to go to great lengths to help each other; Morrigan was captured by the Pantheon in Baphomet's stead, and Baphomet broke her out of Valhalla. However, Baphomet has cheated on Morrigan on several occasions, most recently with Persephone. Their relationship turned abusive when Morrigan discovered the affair. Laura Wilson Laura first attracted Baphomet's attention by interrupting his fight with the Morrigan, and he briefly flirted with her. They bonded when he invited her to a karaoke party after Lucifer's death. Baphomet later came into contact with Laura as Persephone in the Underground and they formulated a plan together to rescue Morrigan and take down Ananke. They also slept together during this period. They are currently allies. Powers & Abilities Baphomet's (Nergal) powers are heavily tied to his theatrical sensibilities: *'Necromancy': Baphomet seems to have the ability to Reanimate and control the dead without restoring them to full life. Upon his introduction he was seen raising the spirits of those who “threw themselves on the tracks”. After Lucifer's death there's a news report of him animating the dead to dance among the living at the High-gate cemetery. During his fight with The Morrigan at Ragnarock 2014 he set her crows alight turning them to burning skeletons who began fighting on his behalf. However it's possible these are just another function of Baphomet's illusion or Projection abilities. **'Communication with the Dead': As he shows, he can seemingly raise spirits of the dead, but "they don't talk back." This could be due to him fully excepting his godhood by going by Baphomet or he just hasn't learned how to fully use his powers. **'Reanimation/Resurrection': Baphomet/Nergal is able to bring those back to life who are dead or dying, as all as trade the life/body of another to restore the living person whole again as he did with Lucifer, Inanna and Mimir, exchanging the dead/near dead Morrigan, Badb and Gentle Annie of so the others could be whole again. *'Illusion Manipulation:' He is able to create a prop of the Morrigan's head, having it speak his chosen words. He was able to communicate with the Morrigan through use of his Bap-O-Meat burger. The source of this is unknown but Baphomet says it's in the ketchup. It is more then likely him projecting an illusion of himself through the food. *'Pyrokinesis': Baphomet possesses the ability to mentally generate and control fire, as he's caused the inside of the Underground to light on fire as well as setting the Morrigan's crows alight. The extent of his fire based abilities are largely unknown, but they are all connected to his miracle abilities coming from his actual godly powers as the current incarnation of Nergal, God of the Sun. **'Weapon Creation': Baphomet frequently summons a fiery staff for combat purposes, which is strong enough to melt through Ananke's flesh. *'Astral Projection:' During a time of self-doubt, Baphomet summoned an astral version of himself to converse with. Whether this was his true doing is unknown. *'Underground Teleportation': Baphomet is capable of travelling to the Underground via a black tendril portal that appears. *'Performance': During his performance/battle with the Morrigan, the entirety of the Underground was shrouded in darkness, with Laura's most consistent thought being "We're all going to die." Mythology Baphomet is a modern pagan deity. He was originally believed to be worshipped by the Knights Templar, and his name is probably an Old French derivation of Muhammed, the Islamic prophet. King Philip IV of France and the Christian Church suppressed the Templars and deemed their worship of Baphomet heretical. Since then, Baphomet has been associated with the devil, and has become a symbol of various occult religions, including Satanism. However, according to Aleister Crowley, Baphomet is a divine being, a view dismissed by Cassandra. Nergal is a Mesopotamian God of the sun, dusk, pestilence, war, destruction, death and the underworld, often associated with demons. In the myth of Nergal and Ereškigal, Nergal is seduced by Ereškigal, goddess of the underworld and sister of Inanna, and forced to stay in the underworld, ruling by her side. Nergal is usually depicted as a lion in traditional iconography.Ancient Mesopotamian Gods and Goddesses Quotes About Baphomet Dialogue }} Trivia *Baphomet's style is based on Nick Cave and Andrew Eldritch, among others.Writer Notes: The Wicked + The Divine #2 *Baphomet and Morrigan were both fans of role playing games and tabletop games, specifically Vampire:The Masquerade. He refers to his unnamed friend in the caves as "Toreador", one of the vampire clans from the series, and he and Morrigan are later seen painting miniatures together. Baphomet painted a vampire count and Morrigan painted a Nurgle chaos creature.Writers Notes: The Wicked + The Divine #20 *Nurgle is a character in Warhammer, which is probably where Baphomet gets the negative associations from. *Baphomet is a reader of Phonogram and Shutter, and had copies of both in his old bedroom.Writer Notes: The Wicked + the Divine #16 He quotes Phonogram in Issue 7.Tumblr Appearances References Category:2010s Pantheon Category:Gods